Andrea Leinfelder

Houston

Space reporter @HoustonChron. Foodie, adventure seeker and new mom. @UFlorida alumna. Send tips and favorite sci-fi references to [email protected].

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Articles

Houston company shows why the moon’s soil could be a valuable resource in space

1 week ago | houstonchronicle.com | Andrea Leinfelder

A Houston company has successfully extracted oxygen from a simulated moonscape, demonstrating a system that it says could eventually be used to provide breathing air and building materials for the moon and other celestial bodies. Lunar Resources recently announced that the test, drawing oxygen from moon-like soil in a vacuum chamber, was completed in December with NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Texas Republicans lobby Trump to move NASA’s headquarters to Houston

1 week ago | houstonchronicle.com | Andrea Leinfelder

Texas legislators are lobbying President Donald Trump to relocate NASA’s headquarters to Houston. In a letter to Trump on Wednesday, all 27 of the state’s Republicans in Congress highlighted Houston’s history, volume of commercial space companies and low cost of living for why NASA should move its main office from the nation’s capital to the Johnson Space Center.
Texas Republicans lobby Trump to move NASA's headquarters to Houston

1 week ago | expressnews.com | Andrea Leinfelder

Texas legislators are lobbying President Donald Trump to relocate NASA's headquarters to Houston. In a letter to Trump on Wednesday, all 27 of the state's Republicans in Congress highlighted Houston's history, volume of commercial space companies and low cost of living for why NASA should move its main office from the nation's capital to the Johnson Space Center.
Katy Perry reaches space in latest Blue Origin launch from West Texas

1 week ago | houstonchronicle.com | Andrea Leinfelder

An all-female spaceflight launched Monday morning with a six-person crew that included singer Katy Perry, morning news anchor Gayle King and Jeff Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sánchez. Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital rocket launched at 8:30 a.m. from West Texas. The women took a 10-minute ride to space and back, not circling the Earth but getting a few minutes of weightlessness as they gazed upon the Earth's curvature.
John Cornyn, Ted Cruz file bill to bring famed NASA space shuttle to Houston

2 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Andrea Leinfelder

The two U.S. senators from Texas are hoping to bring one of NASA's famed space shuttles to what they call its rightful home - Houston. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, both Republicans, introduced a bill on Thursday that would move Space Shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Virginia to a nonprofit near the Johnson Space Center in Houston - likely Space Center Houston, though that's not spelled out in the bill.
John Cornyn, Ted Cruz file bill to bring famed NASA space shuttle to Houston

2 weeks ago | expressnews.com | Andrea Leinfelder

The two U.S. senators from Texas are hoping to bring one of NASA's famed space shuttles to what they call its rightful home - Houston. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, both Republicans, introduced a bill on Thursday that would move space shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Virginia to a nonprofit near the Johnson Space Center in Houston - likely Space Center Houston, though that's not spelled out in the bill.
Trump's NASA pick pledges to get humans to the moon and Mars

2 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Andrea Leinfelder

Jared Isaacman emphasized the importance of getting humans to Mars - and the moon, along the way - during his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday to become the next NASA administrator. The billionaire tech entrepreneur who has flown on two private space missions said he believes the space agency could achieve both within the current budget.
Fram2 astronauts' unique trajectory will provide data on radiation exposure

3 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Andrea Leinfelder

A team of private astronauts have become the first spacefarers to get an up-close view of the North and South poles - a unique trajectory that Houston researchers hope will provide crucial insights into space radiation. The four crew members launched Monday night on the privately funded Fram2 mission, where they will spend three to five days orbiting the Earth in a south-north trajectory. Normally, astronauts orbit west to east.
NASA astronauts detail how their weeklong mission turned into 9 months in space

3 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Andrea Leinfelder

The commander of NASA's Boeing flight test partially blamed himself on Monday for the mission's shortcomings, which led to an unexpected months-long stay aboard the International Space Station and a political fight over the two-person crew's return two weeks ago. Speaking to reporters in Houston, Butch Wilmore said he could have done a better job preparing the Boeing Starliner for launch last year.
NASA is no longer vowing to land first woman, person of color on the moon

1 month ago | houstonchronicle.com | Andrea Leinfelder

NASA appears to be walking back its pledge to land the first woman and person of color on the moon as part of the Trump administration's push to eliminate diversity initiatives from federal agencies. For years - starting with President Donald Trump's first term in office - NASA promised that its return to the moon would not look like the agency's Apollo program that landed 12 white men on the lunar surface between 1969 and 1972.